Writing Letters of Recommendation | Undergraduate Fellowship Office

Thank you for supporting our students in their pursuit of fellowship opportunities! Letters of recommendation are hugely important to students’ fellowship applications to provide a broader context for their work, explain their contributions to their fields, expand on characteristics and experiences that make them a strong applicant, and add additional information that they may not have had room to discuss in their application essays. Below are tips on how to craft strong letters of recommendation.

What materials should you consider as you write your letter?

Look at the criteria the fellowship is assessing candidates on and consider ways to show how the student demonstrates these criteria. (Criteria can be found on our website on the award page for each individual fellowship or directly on the fellowship foundation website).
Carefully review the materials the student sends you. What experiences on their resume can you best speak to? How can your letter complement the application essays by expanding on what they’ve written and giving a fresh perspective on their accomplishments?
Look back at past projects, papers, reflections, or assessments the student has completed to refresh your memory of your work with them.
Keep in mind any directions the fellowship foundation provides on format or content for letter writers. Be aware of word or page counts, letter head expectations, and other formatting requirements (margins, font size etc.). Some fellowships will not read letters of recommendation that do not meet the requirements. Students or fellowship advisors should provide you with this information.

What information should you include in your fellowship letter of recommendation?

State your role, how you know the student, and show how you have specific and personal knowledge of the student and their future careers/plans.
Fellowship foundations are unmoved by generic letters. The more specific examples you can give of your main points, the better. Recommendations that simply list the candidate’s positive qualities are not as helpful as those that illustrate how the candidate has shown those qualities through anecdotes, short narratives, or details. If you cannot give specific examples of the candidate’s positive qualities, it may be best to decline to write the letter of recommendation.
All candidates for nationally competitive fellowships are highly qualified. If you’re able to make specific comparisons about how the student stands out from their peers or stands with other high achieving students who have gone on to have great successes, this is particularly impressive to fellowship committees. You should select the scale that allows you to compare the applicant in the most favorable light while also holding integrity (best in the class, top 10 percent of students, one of the best students you’ve taught in 10 years, is an undergraduate who does work at a graduate level etc.).
Make direct connections between the fellowship’s stated goals and criteria, and the applicants’ experiences and characteristics.
In some cases, it may be appropriate to provide information and assessment from others. For example, if you did not witness an activity yourself, you can draw on what you have heard from others who did experience the activity or discuss activities that you have observed where the applicant showed similar skills.
Include information in support of the applicant’s stated career goals and/or explain what kind of impact you can imagine them making in their field or in their communities in years to come.

What else is important to keep in mind?

If you’re writing for a candidate from an underrepresented group, be aware of implicit bias that may be common in letters of recommendation even when intended as positive statements. For more information, see this resource from the National Institutes of Health on implicit bias.
While proofreading may be obvious, please make sure the student’s name is spelled correctly and that their pronouns are correct.
For some awards, students or fellowship advisors may ask for letters early in the application process so that there is an opportunity for revision. Fellowship advisors may ask for revisions to your letter after reading your draft. This does not mean the letter was poorly written. We provide suggestions to help craft a balanced slate of recommendation letters that highlight a wholistic perspective of a student’s experiences, characteristics, and accomplishments.

Thank you again for your support! If any questions come up as you write your letter, please reach out to fellowships@osu.edu.